DEL MAR: Agility test a hit with fairgoers; San Marcos dog takes first in division

On the second day of this year's San Diego County Fair, several dozen of the world's most athletic dogs convened on the Chevrolet Del Mar Arena for a televised competition putting their jumping, weaving, fetching and sprinting skills to the test.

At least one local handler came out on top, as San Marcos resident Gayle Anderson and her 4-year-old Shetland sheepdog, Charger, bested the field of small dogs on the last run in their division.

Anderson and Charger came off the field about 12:30 p.m. Saturday after winning by four-tenths of a second ---- a victory that qualified the pair to attend the national Purina agility competition in St. Louis in October.

After chasing the dog around the ring, Anderson was out of breath but smiling. Charger ---- true to his name ---- looked ready to go again.

The Sheltie had made a critical error in his first run of the day: A few yards from the finish line, he dove into a tunnel when he should have climbed the A-frame. He'd had to go back around and complete the A-frame before finishing.

His second run was flawless.

"It had to be clean the second time ---- and fast," said Anderson, who previously trained a Sheltie that won the national agility championships several years ago.

"It's fabulous," she said, dropping a treat into Charger's mouth. "Now we get to go to St. Louis."

The noontime contest on a cool day in Del Mar drew hundreds of spectators, as the canines sped through a course roughly the size of a football field ---- larger than most American Kennel Club courses, several trainers said.

"We generally don't see two sets of weave poles, and it's more spread out, more obstacles than we normally see," Anderson explained.

"Obviously, we want what they call 'clean runs' ---- a clean run means no mistakes," explained Lourdes Edlin, the show's lead trainer and a judge for two events on Saturday. "Whoever has the fastest clean run wins."

Edlin kept an eye on the course minutes before the agility competition began. A host of other dogs would compete in events like "dog diving" and "freestyle flying disc," in which the handler's creativity and accuracy in tossing Frisbees would be almost as important as the dog's ability to snatch them out of the air.

But it was the agility contest that proved to be the toughest test for the trainers Saturday.

Another North County dog handler, 68-year-old Jean Rowe of Solana Beach, smiled and nodded toward the latest winded trainer to exit the course after running figure-eights beside her dog, pointing and shouting directional commands.

"Usually, you can take shortcuts and send your dog out, but today we're having to run every inch. That's what's different," said Rowe, explaining that the larger format might have been in order to please the audience of fairgoers who trickled in at the sound of the announcer's voice shortly before lunchtime.

Rowe's dog, a plucky yellow Labrador named Bailey, strained at his leash beside her while the two waited to make their second run of the day.

At 8 years old, Bailey was apparently the oldest four-legged competitor of the day, and Rowe proudly claimed to be the oldest handler: "In dog years, we're about the same age," she said with a grin.

"What's really great is the diversity of the breeds being showcased ---- it just demonstrates that any dog can do this," said Edlin, the judge. "The neat thing about this event is that it is definitely a team sport. The handler is the only one who knows the course. The handler has walked the course, learned the pattern, and now they have to lead the dog through. And as you can see, it's happening very quickly.

"It's a lot of body language, it's verbal hints ---- a lot of things are happening here," she added.

After the pressure of competition and the frenetic pace of the obstacle course had passed, what remained on the sidelines were a dozen doting dog owners.

Losing was practically nothing, compared to the joy of spending a Saturday with Man's Best Friend.

"I've had him since he was 8 weeks old," Anderson said of Charger while scratching his chin. "He lives for this. This is his life."